"If you wish to be a writer, write." - Epictetus

It goes without saying: if you want to be a writer, you must write. Thinking about writing is not enough. Talking about writing is not enough. You have to sit down and get words on the page. That’s what writers do.

You certainly can’t improve your writing without practice. The more you write, the better your writing becomes. Experience breeds expertise, so if you write a lot, you’ll become an expert writer.

According to Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers, it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert in any field. Does that mean you have to spend 10,000 hours writing to get good at it? I don’t think so. I think some of those hours can be spent reading and studying the craft. However, the majority of those hours must be dedicated to practicing the craft.

Practice is what turns an amateur into a professional. Lots and lots of practice.

Yet many people who say they want to be writers avoid writing altogether. They plan on writing, think about writing, and talk about writing. They probably write a little here and there but not enough to complete a project, not enough to become great at it, and never enough to make a career of it.

There are lots of reasons people want to write. Some are naturally talented, so they feel they should write. Others love to read, so they’d like to write a book someday. Some think writing is a quick way to become rich and famous (they’re wrong), others are genuinely passionate about writing, but they don’t have time to write, are uninspired, only write when they are inspired, or simply don’t think they have what it takes to be a writer.

Permission to Write

"A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit." - Richard Bach

I admire people who are fearless. When they want to do something, they do it. They don’t worry, plan, wonder, analyze, or seek permission. They simply do what they want to do.

But most of us are more cautious. We’ve experienced failure. We don’t like taking risks. We’ve seen amateurs trying to pass themselves off as professionals. We’ve had our writing critiqued and the feedback wasn’t good. We set the bar high—nothing short of a potential bestseller is worth writing.

When the mind is clouded with these thoughts, it’s hard to try new things. We don’t want to make fools of ourselves. And who are we to take up writing anyway?

Some people are intimidated by the blank page. Others are intimidated by grammar. Many think they are simply not qualified. There are plenty of reasons to refuse to write even if writing is what you want to do:

·      I didn’t go to college.

·      I went to college, but I didn’t take a writing class.

·      I have a story to tell, but I’m not a writer.

·      I was never good at English.

·      I could never be as good as my favorite author.

·      It’s too hard to get published.

·      I don’t know anything about publishing or marketing.

·      Writing is too hard.

·      There’s no money in it.

The first thing you need to do is stop making excuses, and then you need to give yourself permission to write.

Almost every excuse for not writing is fear based. You’re afraid you’re not qualified. You’re afraid it will be too difficult for you. You’re afraid of failure.

We all experience fear. It’s not unusual for people to want to write, but to feel as though they shouldn’t. I’m here to tell you that the fear may never completely go away. Most of the time, I crack open a new notebook or document and dive right in. But when I’m working on a big, meaningful, or important project, I get a little nervous. I procrastinate. I question whether I’m cut out for it.

But that doesn’t stop me. I force myself to write that first sentence, even if it sucks. Then I write the next sentence and the next one. Who cares if it’s no good? Nobody can see it but me, and I get to go back and clean it up before I show it to anyone else. I’ve got nothing to lose, so why would I let all those irrational fears stop me?

One day, one of my relatives approached me, sat me down, and said in all seriousness, “I’m thinking about writing,” and then looked at me expectantly, while I sat there thinking, Okay. So go write.

Suddenly, I realized that this person was asking me for permission to write. I somehow became part of the equation of whether or not someone would pursue writing. Which is ridiculous.

Look, nobody needs to give you permission to write. If you want to write, then write. Stop making excuses, stop looking for a magic talisman that will turn you into Shakespeare. Just write.

Am I a Writer?

Lots of people fret over this question. There are discussions all over the Internet about who qualifies as a writer. Do you need a degree? Do you have to have published something? Earned income from writing? At what point do you go from being a normal person to being a writer?

For me, the answer is simple: if you write, then you’re a writer. Now, that doesn’t mean you should jot writer down as your profession on a form or application. It’s only your occupation if you make a living at it (or any income whatsoever). But in a general sense, people who write are writers. If you want to split hairs and talk about writers who write professionally or who make a living writing, then we call those people authors.

The real question is not whether you’re a writer. It’s what kind of writer are you? Are you a writer who writes when the mood strikes? Do you wait for inspiration and then write only a few times a year? Is writing a hobby or do you want to make writing your career? Is your goal to get published? Do you want to improve your writing?

If so, then you need to make a commitment to writing.

Making a Commitment to Writing

What separates professional writers from would-be writers and what separates writers who produce quality work from those who produce amateur work is not talent—this is a common misconception—it’s commitment.

Every New Year’s Day, people make resolutions, setting goals they plan on accomplishing throughout the year. They’re going to lose weight, get a new job, save money, start exercising, or write a book.

By spring, most of those resolutions have been abandoned and people fall back into their old routines.

Some people make these same resolutions year after year and never reach the goals they keep setting for themselves.

But some people fulfill their resolutions. Personally, I find that most people who accomplish these kinds of goals don’t set them at the start of a new year. They set their goals when they’re good and ready to make a real commitment.

And commitment is what differentiates those who reach their goals from those who don’t. They don’t set a goal because they’d like to be thinner or richer, or because they’ve always wanted to write a book. They set a goal because they are prepared to make a commitment to it.

Sure, everyone who sets goals and resolutions intends to achieve them, but there’s a difference between a good intention and true commitment. When you’re deeply committed to something, you feel it in your bones. You’re prepared to make it a priority in your life, even if it means making sacrifices for it.

If you’re ready to make that kind of commitment and make your writing practice a priority, then you’ll be able to improve your writing in leaps and bounds. The equation is pretty simple: the more time you put in, the more your work will improve, and the sooner you’ll become a pro.

It all starts with making time to write and establishing a routine.

Making Time to Write

Everyone wants to write a book, even people who don’t consider themselves writers and who don’t want to be writers. But who has the time? Aspiring writers often complain that they’d love to take their writing hobby to the next level, but they are too busy.

It’s not easy to find time to write. Even professional writers get caught up in paperwork and marketing and have to scramble to get the actual work of writing done.

But with careful planning and better time management, we can all learn how to carve out a little more time for writing.

Finding time to practice writing might seem impossible, but if you know where to look, you’ll find precious pockets of minutes and hours that you can use to your advantage.

Here are some ways you can make or find more time to write, even if you have a packed schedule. Experiment with these productivity methods and see which ones work for you:

·      Write first thing every morning. Most people feel refreshed after a good night’s rest (and a cup of hot coffee!) so there’s no better time to get creative than in the a.m. If you can get some writing done before you hop in the shower, you’ll already have made a great start for the day.

·      Schedule writing sessions. If you have an overpacked schedule and your life is dictated by your calendar, then pen in your writing time! Even if you can only squeeze in twenty minutes per day, you’ll see a dramatic increase in your output and improvement in your work.

·      Give yourself a break. Squeezing writing time into breaks and lunches at work is a great way to get writing done on a tight schedule. Even a ten-minute writing binge could mean a huge breakthrough in your plot or that perfect bit of dialogue you’ve been looking for. Because some of our best writing ideas come when we’re enmeshed in other activities, mini writing breaks scattered throughout the day can move your project along in small but significant steps.

·      Do it in the car. Don’t use pen and paper here, folks. Many cell phones are equipped with recording capabilities, and there are freestanding recording devices as well as apps for your smart phone or other mobile device. Use driving time to record your thoughts and transcribe them later. Bonus tip: Don’t have a recording device? Call yourself and leave a voice mail!

·      Sacrifice. Sometimes in life we have to make choices. Give up one of your TV shows and use that time for a weekly writing session. Reconsider accepting every single party invitation, and ask yourself if extra-curricular activities like playing on a community softball league are more important than getting your writing done.

·      Ask for help. If you have too much on your plate and simply cannot find time to write, try delegating, sharing, and swapping tasks with friends, co-workers, and family members. This will free up time in your schedule that you can devote to writing.

·      Turn off the Internet. Need I say more?

Establishing a Routine

“I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately I am inspired at 9 o'clock every morning.”

- William Faulkner

Ideally, you’ll write every day.

Writers who come to the craft out of passion never have a problem with this. They write every day because they need to write every day. Writing is not a habit, an effort, or an obligation; it’s a necessity.

Other writers struggle with developing a daily writing routine. They start manuscripts, launch blogs, purchase pretty diaries, and swear they’re going to make daily entries. Months later, frustrated and fed up, they give up.

Routines don’t work for everyone, but they do work for most people. Almost all the writers I know say they have to write every day. If they miss a day, they end up missing two days, then three, four, and pretty soon they haven’t written in several weeks.

A scant few writers can produce good work by binge writing. They don’t write at all for a few months, and then they crank out a novel in a few weeks. But this is the exception rather than the rule.

So, are you the exception or are you the rule? The only way to find out is to experiment. I’m a huge advocate for writers trying different things. Go ahead and try writing only when you’re inspired. Over the course of a month, how much did you write? How about in the span of a year? Did you write a whole novel? A page? Nothing? If you’re productive working this way, stick with it.

When weeks have passed and you haven’t written a single word, when unfinished projects are littering your desk and clogging up your computer’s hard drive, you can give up entirely and take out a lifetime lease on a cubicle in a drab, gray office. Or you can step back, admit that you have a problem, and make some changes.

These days, we’re all crunched for time. You’d think technology would give us more time for leisure and personal pursuits, but it seems to have the opposite effect. The world just keeps getting busier and busier.

What you’ll find is that if you write only when you feel like it, you won’t write very often. The world is full of distractions—phone calls, emails, television, video games, social media…The list goes on and on.

We’ve already established that the best way to improve your writing is to practice. You can improve your writing by writing occasionally, but the improvements won’t be significant and it will take decades for you to become an expert. What you need to do, even if you just try it for a month to prove to yourself there’s a better way, is to make writing part of your daily routine.

The single best way to develop a routine, to make something a habit, is to do it every day. Okay, you don’t have to write every day, but you should get in a good twenty-minute writing session at least five or six days a week—I would say that’s the absolute minimum. If you can write for a full hour, all the better. Remember, this is time spent writing—not reading, editing, or brainstorming. It’s your writing time.

I once had a music teacher who said it’s better to practice for fifteen minutes every day than to practice for two hours three times a week. I think the same is true for writing. Even if you dedicate only a few minutes to writing every day, it will become an ingrained habit. Writing will become an integral part of your life.

Think of it this way: if you exercise for five hours every Saturday, you end up sore. By the following Saturday, your muscles have weakened again, so you have to start all over. On the other hand, if you exercise for forty-five minutes a day, five days a week, you’ll build up your muscles. The soreness will subside and you will get stronger and leaner. And overall, you’ve actually put less time in.

Your writing practices are not unlike your diet and exercise habits. You’ll get the best results if you start slow and develop a regular routine.

This doesn’t mean you have to do the same thing every day. Sure, you may be working on a novel, but you can take breaks to write poetry or essays. If you don’t have a project in the works, then do some writing exercises. I have found blogging to be an excellent way to ensure that I write consistently, especially between projects.

On Journaling

One of the easiest, most natural, and creative ways to commit to writing and produce better writing over time is to keep a writing journal or notebook.

Writers who are not working at the professional level are juggling their writing projects with full-time jobs, families, school, and a host of other obligations. Writers also get stuck. You’re working on a manuscript and then one day, the ideas just stop flowing. You decide to step away for a day or two, and three months later, you’ve practically forgotten all about that book you were writing. In fact, you can’t remember the last time you sat down and actually wrote something.

Journal writing is many things, but first and foremost, it’s a solution. Journaling is best known for its artistry and is highly recognized for its self-help (vent-and-rant) benefits. But few young or new writers realize that a journal is a writer’s most sacred space. It’s a place where you can jot down or flesh out ideas, where you can freewrite or work on writing exercises when you’re blocked, and where you can scribble notes when you’re short on time. It’s a space where you can develop better writing skills and learn new techniques through trial and error.

The truth is, you don’t have to write every single day to be a professional or published writer. Daily writing is the best practice, but many writers keep a regular, five-day work week. A few writers get their work done by writing heavily for a few months, then not writing at all for a while. But this truth is self-evident: those who succeed treat their writing as a job and they commit to it.

Journal writing is an ideal way for writers to fulfill that commitment. When you keep a journal, you rid yourself of excuses. You can no longer say that you’re stuck on a plot twist because you can write in your journal until the plot becomes untwisted. In fact, writing in your journal may help you do just that. When you’re short on time, you can always turn to your journal for a quick, ten-minute writing session, even while larger projects are sitting on the back burner. And your journal is distraction free, so you can stay focused during your writing sessions.

Do you have to keep a journal in order to succeed and become a professional or published writer? No, of course not. There are many paths to professional writing, and there are many ways to improve your writing. Journal writing is just one trail on the mountain, but it’s a trail that is entrenched with the footprints of successful writers throughout history who have benefited from journaling.

Here are some tips for journaling:

·      Stock up on journals, notebooks, and pens.

·      Try different products and find what you like best.

·      Try using different notebooks for different projects, and try using a single notebook for all your writing projects.

·      Keep a notebook and pen or some other writing tool with you at all times.

You can keep a journal on your computer, or you can use an old typewriter if that appeals to you. But most writers use a good, old-fashioned notebook: pen and paper. While we can certainly crank out more words when we type, we are also at risk for the many distractions of the computer and the Internet. When your journal writing sessions are offline, your productivity may increase tenfold because you spend the entire session writing. After all, your journal doesn’t have Twitter or solitaire on it.

Procrastination and Productivity

“Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you’re doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing.” - E. L. Doctorow

Procrastination and lack of productivity are huge problems for most writers. After all, you don’t have a boss hovering over your shoulder, and there’s no paycheck coming in from your writing.

You alone are responsible for being disciplined enough to get the work done. That’s quite a burden to bear, especially if you’re not an eager or enthusiastic writer who is obsessed to the point of writing prolifically without outside motivation.

Most of us wrestle with procrastination and distractions. Writing time comes and suddenly there are dishes to do, lawns to mow, errands to run, people to call, games to play, and websites to surf. All of these things are so much easier than facing the blank page.

That’s because writing is work. It requires tremendous focus. It’s also intimidating for a lot of people. The fear of writing something awful often inhibits would-be writers to the point of freezing them up entirely.

Here are a few tips to help you overcome distractions and procrastination:

·      Overcome procrastination: One of the best ways to overcome procrastination is to allow yourself the freedom to write poorly. Don’t worry about how good or bad it’s going to be. You can clean it up later.

·      Eliminate distractions: The best way to prevent distractions is to eliminate them. Turn off your ringer, disconnect the Internet, lock yourself in your room, and don’t come out until you finish your writing session.

·      Track productivity: A great way to stay motivated and avoid procrastination is to track your progress. Keep a log of how many pages or words you completed during each day’s writing session. Once you get a sense for your writing rhythm, set goals to write more each day.

·      Time and space: Schedule your writing time and set up a dedicated space without distractions, where you won’t be bothered or interrupted. It could be as simple as taking your notebook out to the garage for twenty minutes at the same time every evening.

·      Accountability: Holding yourself accountable to others is the best way to be accountable. Find a writing buddy, join a writing group, hire a writing coach, or post your daily word count online.

Activities for Writing Practice

What matters is that you spend time writing, but you’ll also need something to write.

If you love to write and have tons of ideas, you’ll have plenty of fodder for your writing practice. By practice, I mean regular writing sessions. You might be writing a novel that you fully intend to publish. In this case, you’re not writing just for the sake of practicing, but you’re getting practice by working on a serious writing project.

You might be writing blog posts. Or you could be experimenting with characters, scenes, story ideas, poetry, and personal essays with no clear plan other than you need to write something in order to get better at writing.

If you don’t have much experience yet, and if you haven’t established a clear sense of direction for your writing, my advice is to try a little bit of everything. Experiment with different forms and genres, see what feels right. Here are some ideas:

·      Keep a journal for thirty days: I encourage people to approach journaling with an open mind. Allow yourself to doodle and sketch in your journal. Write about what happened today, what you want to happen tomorrow, or reflect on something that happened years ago.

·      Write a series of personal essays: Personal essays are structured pieces that look at a topic through the writer’s personal experience. They often include storytelling that is woven with thoughts and insights about the subject matter.

·      Write a series of topical essays: Topical essays are formal and often require research. They can be factual or informative, persuasive or analytical.

·      Write a short story: Some say the short story is a lost art, commercially speaking. But the short story is making a comeback with the rise of e-books. Many writers can finish a short story in a day to a week.

·      Write outlines, synopses, or character sketches for a novel: You could skip the preliminaries and write the novel itself, but if you’re looking for something to practice writing, story outlines, character sketches, and world building are great ways to warm up your writing and experiment with ideas before starting a manuscript.

·      Write fictional scenes: We all have fantasies. Maybe you’ve thought it would be funny if everyone in a restaurant got up and started singing and dancing like they do in musicals. Maybe you’ve fantasized about revenge or a romantic encounter. Stop daydreaming and write these scenes down!

·      Write a script or screenplay: Script writing is not traditional prose, but it’s an excellent way to practice writing dialogue and to practice writing in a tight, concise manner.

·      Write a poem a day for a week: Some people find it easier to write song lyrics than poetry. Just remember that poetry doesn’t have to rhyme.

·      Start a blog: Blogging did wonders for my writing routine. When you write in the public space and acquire a readership, you are also holding yourself accountable to other people.

Make sure that when you write, you give it your best. Don’t scrawl a personal essay in your notebook and then forget about it. Write it to the best of your ability, including editing, proofreading, and polishing. There’s no point in practicing your writing if you are halfhearted about it.

And while perfection is an impossible dream, we can certainly do our best to make our writing as close to perfect as possible, each in our own time and in the way that best suits us. You know the saying: practice makes perfect.

So what are you waiting for? Go practice writing!

Questions

·      How often do you write?

·      How often would you like to write?

·      If you don’t write as often as you’d like, what’s stopping you?

·      Is there space in your schedule for a twenty-minute writing session at least five days a week? Can you do an hour a day?